Regulatory Easing for Low Fire Risk Industries, Excluding 'Multi-use Businesses'

Strengthening Regulations by Designating High-Risk New Businesses as Multi-Use Establishments

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] In the future, safety regulations will be relaxed for multi-use facilities deemed safe above the standard through fire risk assessments, while new industries that fall below the standard will be incorporated into multi-use facilities and face strengthened regulations.

On the 21st, the Fire Agency announced that, considering changes in building and business environments and the number of fire incidents, it will publicly notify the amendment bill of the "Special Act on Safety Management of Multi-use Facilities" and its subordinate laws from the 20th, aiming to harmonize the voluntary safety management of multi-use business owners with public safety.

This amendment focuses on reasonable regulation by relaxing regulations for industries or facilities with low risk based on fire risk assessment results of multi-use facilities, and including high-risk new industries as regulated targets.

Fire risk assessment involves setting standards for designation or exclusion of multi-use businesses and installation of safety facilities, predicting and analyzing the possibility of fire occurrence, damage caused by fire, and impact on surroundings from various perspectives for fire prevention and safety management of facilities, and preparing countermeasures accordingly. It is classified into five grades from A to E.

Industries judged safe with an A grade in fire risk assessment may be excluded from multi-use business designation or partially exempted from installing safety facilities. Facilities may be exempted from fire safety education and special fire inspections for a certain period, issued with an excellent safety management facility mark, and business owners may receive commendations.

On the other hand, new types of industries judged dangerous with D or E grades in fire risk assessment will be designated as multi-use businesses and regulated. Also, while previously fines were imposed only when business owners failed to keep records of quarterly regular inspections, the amendment includes cases where multi-use facility inspections are not conducted or records are falsified as subjects for fines.

Meanwhile, the amendment bills for subordinate laws, including enforcement decrees and enforcement rules, will also be publicly notified. These are follow-up measures to the Multi-use Facilities Act amended in January this year (effective July).

Business owners must immediately report the outline of accidents and damage situations to the fire department chief or fire station chief if a fall accident occurs at an emergency exit of a multi-use facility or if they become aware of such an accident. Failure to report or false reporting will be subject to fines, strengthening regulations.

Additionally, fire risk assessments can be conducted by persons possessing technical personnel. To verify whether they can professionally perform fire risk assessment tasks, patients with mental disabilities are stipulated as disqualifications, and the mental illness treatment history of those intending to perform the tasks and technical personnel will be checked.

The results of special fire inspections conducted on multi-use facilities will specify the subjects and periods for public disclosure to inform the public, adding detailed disclosure items such as fire occurrence history over the past three years.

Nam Hwa-young, Director of Fire Policy Bureau at the Fire Agency, explained, "Multi-use facilities are business places used by unspecified many people, so there is a high risk of casualties in case of fire, and thus stricter safety facility standards have been applied than other industries. Through fire risk assessment, the policy direction is to shift to reasonable regulations that exclude multi-use business designation for low-risk industries and facilities, so that voluntary safety management by business owners and public safety are considered together. This is the purpose of this amendment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.